We decided to give it one last service, just in the hope of keeping it on the road until November. As we\u2019re coming back to Blighty in November, we need all the cash we can scrape together, so keeping it on the road until then would give us a bit more spending power, and we could lash out on a new one when we got back. This would probably involve a loan from the bank, but so be it. I took it into the usual garage we use, and they said they\u2019d give it a service and a \u201conce over\u201d<\/em>.\u00a0Got a phone call later; \u201cIt\u2019s not looking good Taff.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I got the mother in law to drive me over me down to see them,\u00a0which is an adventure all in itself. Dave the mechanic gave me the itemised report, which run to two pages of A4, all of which was a listing the various faults. I was going to ask Dave to get it towed, but being a twat, I asked, \u201cHow much for the bare minimum work to keep it on the road?\u201d<\/em> Dave sucked his teeth; \u201cThe brakes will have to be done, I can probably do you a cheap tyre, that radiator leak may stop with some rad-weld, the headlamp bulbs need replacing, the fog lights you can do without, you\u2019ll have to keep topping the oil up daily, and the battery may just hang on for a month or two. Pray it doesn\u2019t rain and you can go without windscreen wipers. Call it $500.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n I coughed up. Actually I coughed up $700, as Dave forgot to include the cost of the service in his estimates. So that was the plan, run the car on a wing and a prayer, and hope it made it through to November.<\/p>\n Two days later, just two fucking days after shelling out $700 on the heap of shite, while reversing out of the garage, I caught the front wing on the garage door, and ripped the front bumper off.<\/p>\n It ended up looking like this.<\/p>\n Change of plan. We\u2019ll drive\u00a0it until we find a cheap runner, shell out a couple of grand on a car that will last a year, and scrap that one\u00a0when we can afford to pay out for a good\u2019n.<\/p>\n I found a good looking car on \u201cGumtree\u201d<\/a> we went and had a look. The guy selling it at the used car dealers, Ian, was the least “Swiss Tony\u201d<\/a>\u00a0like guy I have ever met in my life. He was shy, and just gave us the keys and told us to \u201cHave a good drive and see what you think.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Which was a brilliant sales technique. We felt so unthreatened by him we signed up to buy it on the spot.<\/p>\n Two days later, after all the paperwork had been done and dusted, by Ian\u00a0at his expense (!), I took Old Gregg to the scrapper, which was conveniently\u00a0located just around the corner from Ian\u2019s sales lot. I got $100 scrap fees for him. I then picked up \u201cNew Gregg\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOh come on Taff, you could at least be more creative with a name for it!\u201d<\/em> I hear. But no, there is a reason for the name.<\/p>\n Old Gregg; bottle green 1999 Subaru Liberty Station wagon.<\/p>\n New Gregg; bottle green, 1998 Subaru Outback Station wagon.<\/p>\n Yes, we bought an older car. It was cheap. Fuck off.<\/p>\n They could be twins. Well twins apart from the fact that new Gregg isn\u2019t covered in dents, scratches, has working doors, windows, lights, windscreen wipers, battery, tyres etc. And has a complete windscreen sans crack. Oh and it has a 2.5 litre engine, (OG was 2 litre.)<\/p>\n They are so alike that I had Bethany (briefly) fooled that we\u2019d had Old Gregg refurbished.<\/p>\n New Gregg is a pleasure to drive, apart from the fact that the handing is a bit boat like. Fair bit of poke for an old motor too. We gave $2250 for it, so if it lasts us a year, without too much servicing\/repair cost, it\u2019ll do us a treat.<\/p>\n We went to see Le Noir,<\/a> and it was wonderful.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/_d_improd_\/og-the-last-star_f_improf_300x199.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
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